Chapter Twenty-Six

 

 

 

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

I had reluctantly released Megan from my hold and slid out of the bed as slowly as possible. She let out a tiny moan but didn’t wake as I draped the blanket over her naked body. I dropped a kiss to her forehead before tiptoeing out of the bedroom and pulling the door closed behind me. After I’d spoken to Kelly for a minute, I got in my truck and headed home.

I walked up the stairs to the front door and pushed it open. I headed towards the kitchen and nodded at Alex when I saw him hit the bottom stair from the second story.

“Hey, Al. What are you…?” I didn’t get to finish my question before Alex’s fist was connecting with my jaw. I stumbled back, more out of surprise than anything, and I shook my head slightly. “What the fuck?”

“You and Megan, huh?” He swung again and I didn’t even attempt to protect myself as his fist met eye.

“Fuck,” I muttered as the pain shot through my face. “Damn it, Alex.” I looked at my brother through my blurred vision and shook my head. “I’ll give you one more hit because I deserve it but after that, I’m defending myself.”

Alex dropped his fists but the murderous look on his face didn’t abate. “I just saw the two of you on Facebook. I saw you holding her, kissing her. Were you the person she was fucking when she broke up with me?” He stared at me, waiting for an answer, and after a moment of silence, I nodded.

“Yes,” I replied as I decided not to lie to my little brother. I watched as his fists clenched at his side so I rushed on. “We slept together once, a few days before she broke up with you, in a moment of weakness.”

That time the fist got me in my stomach and I doubled over as the air left my lungs. I straightened back up and winced slightly as I stared at my brother, who looked a good mix between mad and betrayed.

“I love her, Alex.”

That caught his attention and he raised his brows slightly. “You love her?”

“Yeah,” I said with a nod as I rubbed my sore jaw. “We tried. I swear to you that we tried to stay away from each other and to ignore our feelings. Megan tried a lot harder than I did, Alex. She didn’t want to hurt you even though she was hurting herself. But… I love her. I’m in love with her.”

“Fuck, Simon. Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you let me know how you felt? I would have backed off.”

I looked at my brother, who now seemed more distressed than anything, and gave him a small smile as I shook my head. “No, you wouldn’t have.”

“Probably not,” he admitted with a sheepish smile on his face. The smile quickly disappeared and he took a step back. “I trusted you with her. I knew you guys were spending time together but I wasn’t worried. I never would have thought that you, of all people, couldn’t be trusted around my girlfriend. I can’t believe you’d do that.”

“You know I’d never do anything to purposely hurt you or the kids. If I had thought for a minute that you loved her, that she was it for you, I would have dealt with my misery so you two could be together. But come on, Al…”

“That doesn’t make it okay.” Alex looked defeated and he didn’t say anything else as he turned and went back up the stairs.

My whole body sagged as I leaned into the counter behind me. I felt like shit. The internet was not how I wanted Alex to find out. Getting knocked around wasn’t exactly desired, either. I carefully rubbed my jaw and turned to get some ibuprofen out of the medicine cabinet. Once I’d swallowed the pills and sucked down some water, I went downstairs to my room and collapsed on my bed. I stared at the ceiling for a moment and mentally berated myself for as long as I could.

After about twenty minutes, I stood and got ready for my baseball game. I pulled on my white pants and blue baseball t-shirt before grabbing my cleats and hat from the floor. I walked up the stairs and thought about trying to talk to Alex again but decided against it and instead went for my truck. I didn’t want to hash out the conversation when I had limited time.

Most of my teammates were already there when I arrived, along with the guys from the Rollins Fire Department. We all chatted for a bit as we put on cleats, hats, and anything else we needed and we moved to the field to warm up.

“What the fuck happened to your face?” Christos asked as he tossed a ball to Jones. I caught the one Hughes sent me and shook my head.

“Alex found out about Megan. I let him get a few shots in.”

Christos chuckled quietly. “You finally told him? What’s it been now? A month since you two got together?”

“Six weeks,” I replied quietly, leaving out how it’d been the best six weeks of my life. “I didn’t tell him. He found out from the internet and made it that much worse.”

The ump blew his whistle and I tossed the ball back to Hughes before walking to the dugout with my teammates. I scanned the spectators that had come, most of them the wives, girlfriends, and children of players, and I didn’t see Megan. She had been so wiped out from the adrenaline rush earlier that I was glad she was still resting.

I watched my teammates bat after the game had started. We’d definitely improved since we’d started playing a few of months before and I felt like we had a real shot of taking the trophy home for the summer. When Hughes stood to bat, I moved to my feet and did a few practice swings off to the side.

“I’m expecting that homerun you promised me, you know.”

I turned around and grinned when I caught sight of Megan behind the fence. She was wearing a pair of denim shorts with her tight NHFD t-shirt that I’d given her, and her hair was left down as she flashed me a sexy smile.

“Hey, babe.” I leaned forward so I could press a kiss to her lips through the chain link. “I thought you’d still be sleeping.” Her smile morphed to shock when I pulled back and she gasped.

“What happened to your face?”

Someone called my name behind me, letting me know I was up to bat, and I gave her an apologetic grin as I took my hat off and dropped it to her over the fence. “Don’t stress, gorgeous. Be back in a bit.”

I put my sunglasses on before adjusting my batting helmet and taking my stance. I gave myself two practice swings and nodded at the pitcher. The first pitch came fast and I got a fair piece of it but knew it would go foul immediately. The second pitch was bad and I didn’t even attempt to swing.

“Come on, Owens!” I heard Megan yell from the crowd. “Attack that ball!”

I chuckled and shook my head slightly. I loved that woman.

When the ball came again, I swung with all my might and connected with the ball instantly. I didn’t bother to watch where it went and instead made a beeline for first. One of the guys from the 18th company stood by the base and waved for me to keep going so I ran for second. As I ran, I looked for the ball and I saw the outfielder still chasing it as it rolled through the grass. I rounded second and darted for third as fast as I could. When I hit it, I heard the Captain, who was standing at the baseline near third, yell for me to stop. I did as he said and watched as the third baseman caught the ball just seconds after I’d arrived.

I put my hands on my hips as I caught my breath and looked out to the crowd. Megan was wearing my hat over her shiny, brown hair and a huge smile lit up her face as she cheered next to her sister. I sent her a cocky grin and she just rolled her beautiful eyes before smiling back.

Someone from the 18th was up to bat and the minute he hit the ball, I took off running to home plate. I scored as he made it to first and the small group of onlookers clapped but Megan’s cheers were the loudest by far. I walked through the dugout and accepted the back slaps and high fives before I went through the exit that led to the stands. Megan was waiting for me with her hands on her hips and I didn’t waste any time pulling her body to mine. I pressed my lips to hers and she allowed me to deepen the kiss instantly.

Megan pulled back after someone whistled and she turned to shoot a glare in Kelly’s direction. When she looked back at me, she frowned and pushed my sunglasses to the top of my head. Her fingers moved to my face as she lightly traced the bruise under my eye.

“What happened?”

I grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss to her wrist. “Alex. He knows.”

“What?” Her eyes widened. “How?”

“Channel Seven’s Facebook page. He saw a video of us at that accident.”

“Shit,” she whispered. I didn’t have time to respond as I heard an out be called and my team stood to head into the outfield.

“Gotta go.” I situated my glasses over my eyes before pressing a kiss to her nose and she gave me a small smile as she pulled the hat from her head so she could arrange it on mine.

“Kick ass. I love you.”

“I love you, too, but this looks better on you,” I said as I shook my head and dropped the hat back on her. I turned and grabbed my glove before heading to second base.

My team played hard and we beat Rollins FD by seven runs. That left us with one more game to win the following week and we’d play the police department at the end of September.

We shook the hands of everyone on the other team and I searched the stands for Megan. I found Kelly first and she was chatting with Christos with a flirty smile on her face. I rolled my eyes and continued looking for her sister. My eyes collided with her hazel ones and I walked over to where she leaning up against the fence off to the side.

“You are the cutest sports fan ever. You know that?” I asked as I wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her towards me.

“I love watching you out there. It’s amazingly sexy.”

I raised my brows as I grinned at her. “Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah. I might make you wear the cleats tonight,” she teased as she reached up to touch my bruised jaw.

“Only if you wear that hat.”

Megan let out a small laugh as her arms came up to wrap around my neck. “Deal. Are you guys going out to celebrate?”

“Yeah,” I replied with a nod. “Are you coming? Kelly’s welcome, too.”

She shook her head slowly and brushed some hair off of my forehead. “I don’t think so. It’s been a long day and we’re going to veg out.” I opened my mouth to speak and she rushed on before I could. “You go, though, okay? You guys deserve to celebrate and I’ll be home waiting when you’re done. Maybe with the hat still on if you’re lucky.”

Megan stretched her neck and I met her halfway so our lips could touch for a moment. Kissing her, even when it was just an innocent one like that, still had the ability to bring me to my knees. She had a power over me that I couldn’t even begin to explain.

“I’ll see you back at my place?” she asked quietly as we pulled away and I nodded immediately.

“Of course. If you change your mind, we’ll be at Naked Joes on Creekside, okay?”

I squeezed her hand and reluctantly let her go as she went to get Kelly. I watched from my spot as she touched her sister’s shoulder gently before saying something to her. Kelly slapped Christos’ shoulder and linked her arm through Megan’s so they could head towards the parking lot. Megan looked over her shoulder as they walked and caught my eye, offering me a wide smile when she did.